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Wigan chairman Dave Whelan claims the extra game in which each team play a 39th league game from the 2010-11 season onwards, with the additional 10 fixtures each year to be staged in five different cities around the globe over two days could be worth £4.5million. Sometime last week, it was announced that the 20 Premier League clubs had agreed to consider strongly a plan for an 'international round' of fixtures. Apart from the monetary attraction, a lot of other criticism has since come into the picture.It would be unfair for a start as the seedings could see the bottom-placed team face the leaders and the second-bottom side face third or fourth from bottom for instance a game where Manchester United versus Derby County in any Asian country would effectively be another away game for the Rams because the ground would undoubtedly be full with excited Red Devils followers. The same goes for virtually any team drawn against the Red Devils and so will the appeal be for the other big four teams Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal while teams like Tottenham Hotspur also could have a strong following there. From the FA’s point of view however, riding on the fact that there are millions of fans of English football all over the globe and the extra fixture will give them the chance to see their heroes in action, which is a good point to make, but having to consider that playing in five different cities, will mean some teams will have to travel further than others, with some games played in similar temperatures to the UK and others in much hotter surroundings, the disadvantages are quite clear. One argument that seemed valid would be to host the League Cup finals which will definitely increase the uptake and the viewers while watching it ‘live’. This however, would bring about a backlash in terms of teams fielding their second team, which in return could defeat its original purpose as well. Whatever the circumstances, the FA would have to come up with a better plan instead to rake in the critics of this wonderful idea if they are to launch it successfully.
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